No abstract

During many years of industrial development, soil system was contaminated with large amounts of toxic metals. In order to investigate the mobility and availability of metals from soil to mushrooms, the content of 13 elements (Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Ti, and Zn), in caps and stipes of wild-grown edible mushroom Macrolepiota procera and soil substrates, collected from five sites in Rasina region in central Serbia, was determined. Soil samples were subjected to the sequential extraction procedure proposed by the Community Bureau of Reference in order to fractionate acid-soluble/exchangeable, reducible, oxidizable, and residual fractions. Metal concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer and the results subjected to multivariate data analysis. A principal component analysis distinguished mushrooms samples from different geographical areas and revealed the influence of soil composition on metal content in mushrooms. Hierarchical cluster analyses confirmed that the first three phases of extraction were the most important for metal uptake by mushrooms from soil. The bioconcentration factors and translocation factors for each metal were also calculated. These results showed that M. procera could serve as a good dietary source of essential elements, especially Cu, Zn, Mn, and Fe but the consumption of mushrooms may pose a health risk for consumers during the "season of mushrooms," due to the presence of cadmium.

The content and bioaccumulation of trace (Ag, Se, As) and major elements (Ca, Mg, Na and K) in wild edible mushroom Macrolepiota procera and its corresponding soil substrates, collected from five sites in the Rasina region in central Serbia, were investigated. The content of Ag, As and Se was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) while the amount of Ca, Mg, Na and K was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The concentrations of major elements in the mushrooms were at typical levels. As far as trace elements are concerned, M. procera bioaccumulates silver although all samples were collected from unpolluted sites. It was found that the content of Ag depended on the geographical origin and the density of fruiting body on the certain site. Principal component analysis distinguished the mushroom samples from different geographical areas and revealed the influence of soil composition on metal content in fruiting bodies. Also, a linear regression correlation test was performed to investigate correlations between Ag, Cd, Se, Pb and As in caps and stipes at different geographic sites separately. In addition, our results indicated that M. procera could serve as a good dietary source of Mg, K and Se. The content of Ag and As was low, so it could not pose a health risk for consumers.

This study evaluates the effect of two contrasting years, in terms of climatic parameters, on kernel morphology and content and on the composition of oil, tocopherols and the 11 macro- and micro-elements in almonds. Low precipitation and high temperatures increased the content of tocopherols, Cu and Zn but decreased the kernel ratio, the oil content, and the levels of macro-elements and of Cr, Fe, Mn and Mo. The obtained data indicate some statistically significant correlations among the kernel quality parameters and climate. A small variation in oil concentration with the highest value in ‘Texas’ (60.07%) was observed. The main tocopherol homologue was α-tocopherol (39.4 to 404.4 mg/100 g DW), representing more than 90% of the total tocopherols. Potassium was predominant (882.0 to 1104.5 mg/100 g), followed by phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and sodium. The most abundant micro-elements were iron (3.095 to 3.708 mg/100 g) and zinc (2.641 to 4.765 mg/100 g), followed by manganese, copper, molybdenum and chromium. The genotype 15/03 has the highest level of health-promoting compounds (α-tocopherol, potassium and zinc), so that, together with genotype 25/03 which showed the best response to changing climatic conditions, this genotype could be of interest for breeding programs.

Proper selection and knowledge of varieties, processing conditions, and the use of selective yeast cultures during alcoholic fermentation have an important influence on the chemical composition of the distillate. In order to examine the influence of the plum variety on the quality of plum brandy, chemical analysis and sensory evaluation of brandies obtained from different varieties were performed. It was established that the characteristics of plum brandy depend primarily on the variety of plums. The best results were shown by brandies from the Moravka and Čačanska lepotica varieties, while the brandy sample from the Stanley variety was somewhat weaker.